Diversity and Inclusiveness

The Dharma Center is committed to providing resources to foster individual and collective liberation. We feel it is important to connect the inner work of ending greed, hatred and delusion in ourselves to the outer work of ending inequality, injustice and unconscious bias in the world.

In addition to the shelf of books and articles in our lending library, we provide the following resources for exploring our cultural and individual conditioning around race, and other dominant/subordinate conditionings.

Please read the excerpt from meditation teacher Gina Sharpe at the bottom of this page.

If you know of other books, videos, and articles that bring a dharma lens to collective issues, we would welcome your suggestions.

May we foster wisdom and compassion in our world through our practice and our willingness to be aware. May we individually and collectively wake up to conditioning that does not serve the liberation and well-being of all and endeavor to end it.

Books

An excerpt from an interview with meditation Teacher Gina Sharpe on the challenge of addressing structural racism in white-dominant Buddhist circles:

According to Buddhist philosophy, ultimately there is neither black nor white; these are simply constructions of mind. But practically, there is a legacy of slavery in America, and racism is woven into the fabric of society. This is real.

“Given that,” Sharpe tells me, “it’s not just a matter of ‘Let’s put people in a room together and let them meditate and everything will be hunky-dory.’ Work has to be done on all different fronts.”

And that work starts with understanding structural racism. “What does structural racism really mean? It means it’s not your fault,” says Sharpe. “You’re not to blame—you don’t have to feel guilty—but you should recognize it as a problem that needs a solution. And how do we as Buddhists solve problems? The first thing we do is we sit down and try to see the truth.”

Yet many Buddhists don’t want to see that structural racism operates in their own communities. According to Sharpe, white Buddhists often believe they’re so goodwilled that they can’t possibly be racist, and this means that they can’t be taught. Nobody wants to be seen as racist; nobody wants to look inside and see racist tendencies. “So when you bring racism up,” she says, “there’s so much guilt and shame about it that you get shamed.”

The Bozeman Dharma Center
is committed to cultivating an awareness
and appreciation of the value of diversity
and to acknowledging the need to recognize and
dissolve barriers that separate us from each other.
We open our doors and hearts to all social identities
including all races, classes, sexual orientations,
gender identities, ages, abilities, cultures, and ethnicities.
Everyone is welcome in the spirit
of an open heart and mind.

Subscribe: sign up for our emailsFollow Us: Donate:

Upcoming Events

A Walk with Sam

Friday August 18
4:00 pm – 6:00 pm
An opportunity to learn more about different religions in the area, possibly dispelling stereotypes and opening our hearts and minds. The Dharma Center will share what it is about the Buddha’s teachings that is considered so valuable, timeless and noble.

Open Morning Sit

Closed For Labor Day

September 4th

The Dharma Center will not be open on Sept. 4th in honor of the Labor Day holiday. Please note that this means there will be no noon sit on that day. The Thich Nhat Hahn Group and Zen Group will not be meeting that day either.

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Why Meditate?

September 67pm-9pm
with Suzanne Colón and Alice RobisonThis class will present the basic benefits of meditation, why it’s worth your time and what you might expect to get out of the practice.